Slut River - Off White 7" [2012]

When these punks rolled through Champaign last month people went wild for it. Definitely one of the best shows I've seen in town in quite a while. Snotty tunes by people who know how to beat you on the head with groovy punk rhythms and treat yer mind to excellent pop melodies. Somebody on their bandcamp likened the sound to Mika Miko, which isn't real accurate but not totally off either. Hardly an unfavorable comparison in any case. Slut River are further proof -- if you needed any -- that Iowa City has an excellent scene despite (or because of) its prairie isolation. Get this one.

The actual 7" has five songs on it, while the digital version has seven with a slightly different song order. I'm going off the physical release but I bet the other songs are just as good. Just make sure to spin it at 33 1/3 unless you wanna hear chipmunk vocals. 

one sick pup

Lumpy & the Dumpers - 7" [2013]

Gonna make this a quick one, coz I'm driving down to St. Louis to see these freaks play with Dawn of Humans tonight. If you've been paying any attention at all, you already know Lumpy & the Dumpers are one of the active best bands in the midwest, if not the country. Hell, at this point they've got bands in cool-guy towns like New York ripping off their sound. This 7" continues in the vein of their previous cassette releases, twisting hardcore punk out of its stale formulae and injecting an unhealthy dose of slime muck. All three songs on here are rippers, but if I had to pick, I'd go with the last one. 

Anyway, this is up on bandcamp for pay what you want, but as with all of Martin's visual art this is one you should really get a physical copy of. 

Lemme see you nitwits pogo